i'm chris matthews down in washington. let me start tonight with this. is gun violence, mass violence, mass violence against children the price we pay for freedom? is watching and doing nothing what we have to put up with to obey the second amendment? is it? we're supposed to do nothing because the constitution upholds the right to bear arms? well, we have easy access to semiautomatic weapons in this country, semiautomatic rifles. is it a good society that does this, allows it? a country where anyone can get ahold of a rifle that can kill 26 people in ten minutes. is this a good society? is it really a free society when you can't be sure your kids are safe sitting at their school desks? i ask the questions knowing the only way we can end this is with the votes of politicians from deer hunting country, not from the big cities. will they be there? will politicians who fear the gun lobby bear up under the strain of attack against any measure, no matter how small, to curb the power of the gun owners? the question tonight, what should and, most importantly, c